What makes a good commercial? Something simple? Smart? Funny? Or sexy? And what comes to mind when you think of mushrooms?

One ad about mushrooms has been trendy in Japan lately, and was played more than 6 hundred thousand times a day. It is innovative in some way to associate mushrooms with something else and had a great impact for Hokuto.

The company, which produces and sells mushrooms has a reputation for edgy branding and doesn’t try to doesn’t go overboard to appeal to consumers, targeting instead the quality and nutritional value of the product.

But their latest add has been both enjoyed and ridiculed by Japanese netizens, who are also confused by its obvious sexuality. Some even found it a bit awkward to watch with family…

This recent mushroom commercial from mushroom production and sales company Hokuto, which features actor Kaname Jun (32) and actress Suzuki Sawa (41), is making waves for being “too sexy”.

Hokuto took on Kaname and Suzuki for their advertising in May this year. The pair feature in a series of commercials that are filled with sexual tension, and in the latest ad the main plot is as follows: Kaname wears king brown mushroom-shaped earrings and a mushroom-patterned shirt as a ‘mushroom fairy’ while Suzuki acts as a housewife. He suddenly approaches her and whispers in her ear ‘mushrooms’ or ‘mushrooms make you gorgeous’ to her.

The latest version got its first airplay on October 25: “The ad starts with some romantic music when Suzuki does grocery shopping. Kaname suddenly appears in front of her, draws her into his arms and whispers ‘a normal mushroom or a gorgeous mushroom, which tastes better?’ to her. Suzuki sighs blissfully and says ‘Whichever…’, but Kaname forces her to…” – this is the scenario and the copy pops up ‘Gorgeous mushrooms make you gorgeous’. Viewers can’t resist Suzuki’s sexy gesture or expression or eyes that makes a vivid contrast with Kaname’s weird character and it draws audience even more into the ad.

The ad has become an instant topic on the Internet ever since its first airplay and there were lots of comments on Twitter or 2ch such as ‘That surely gives each living room the awkward atmosphere ww’, ‘Hands between legs ww’, ‘Suzuki and Kaname, this combo is just funny ww’, or ‘Don’t you dare say “a gorgeous mushroom” ww’. Some people find this over the top but most of us enjoy the ad.

Suzuki received lots of feedback herself too, and on her official twitter account, she happily tweeted ‘Oooh, seems the new version of the ad for Hokuto mushrooms has had a decent impact. Yay yay! Well worth all the time we spent from midnight to morning for this shoot.’

She also tweeted ‘the director for this ad is actually a woman. She came in a knit hat with short hair, just like an art uni student. Pretty. That lady did a production in this way and me and Kaname were always like “You sure? Serious? No kidding? ” but she expected a lot for us, and we wanted to live up to her expectations, so we tried our hardest. ‘